1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a commodity information management system such as a POS (Point Of Sale) system for clearing and performing commodity management by reading a barcode attached to the commodity and, more particularly, to a commodity information management system, which performs security management by using a tag attached to a commodity.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a POS system which reads a barcode attached to each of the commodities has been installed into different kinds of stores, such as book stores, convenience stores, music software stores, etc., in order to systematize the commodity management, reduce the time for clearing, and save labor or the like. As security measures against, for example, shoplifting, plainclothes watchmen are employed to watch the customers inside the store or the customers are monitored using a video camera. However, it is known that shoplifting cannot be totally prevented even though such measures are taken, and so it may be said that the security is not fool proof.
Under the circumstances as described above, a security measure is currently becoming popular in which security tags, for example, activated tags are attached to each of the commodities in the store and the POS system is provided with a built-in deactivator for deactivating each of the tags at the cash counter. Further, an alarm unit having a magnetic field detector is installed at the exit of the store, and when the alarm unit detects the magnetic field of the tag it considers the case as a shoplifting and provides an alarm.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically showing an electric configuration of a POS system based on conventional technology. In the figure, a commodity 1 on display in a store is taken to the cash counter (not shown in the figure) when a customer wants to buy the commodity. A barcode 2 is attached to the commodity 1 and comprises a plurality of alternately provided black and white bars. This barcode 2 indicates codes such as a commodity maker code and a commodity item code.
A security tag 3 made of magnetic material and having a shape of a thin plate is attached to the commodity 1 in the same manner as that of the barcode 2. This security tag 3 is an activated state while the commodity 1 is on display and is used for the security measure of the store. A scanner 4 is provided in the cash counter and comprises a reading section 5, a control section 6, and an I/F section 7. The reading section 5 optically reads the barcode 2 attached to the commodity 1 to be bought and outputs a result to the control section 6 as barcode data Db, and also outputs a reading-completion signal S1 to the control section 6 when the reading of the barcode 2 is completed.
The control section 6 provides controls for each section of the device and performs processing such as calculating the amount of money to be paid for the commodity 1 according to the barcode data Db, displaying the amount on a display section (not shown), outputting a receipt from a printer (not shown), and outputting the data generated at the time of clearing to a host terminal (not shown) as data related to the commodity from a particular store. The I/F section 7 is an interface between the control section 6 and an external device.
A deactivator 8 is provided near the scanner 4 and comprises a control section 9 and a deactivating section 10. The control section 9 provides controls for driving the deactivating section 10. The deactivating section 10 deactivates the security tag 3 on the same principle as that of an eraser head of a tape recorder when the security tag 3 is brought near it. More specifically, the deactivating section 10 comprises a coil (not shown) and a bias oscillator (not shown) for supplying a high frequency current to the coil, and applies a strong AC magnetic field generated by the coil to the security tag 3. Herein the AC magnetic field is strong enough to activate the security tag 3 to saturation. A alarm unit (not shown) is located at the exit of the store in which this POS system is installed for giving an alarm when it detects the magnetic field of the security tag 3.
Next, the operation of the POS system based on the conventional technology is described. When a customer brings a desired commodity 1 to the cash counter, an operator (or a cashier) swings the commodity 1 from the reading section 5 (upstream side) to the deactivating section 10 (downstream side) to clear the commodity. During this swing, when the barcode 2 comes near the reading section 5 it is optically read by the reading section 5 and barcode data Db indicating codes, such as a commodity item code, is outputted to the control section 6.
At this time, the deactivating section 10 is driven by the control section 9. When the security tag 3 comes near the deactivating section 10, the AC magnetic field generated by the deactivating section 10 is applied to the security tag 3. Because of this AC magnetic field the magnetic field of the security tag 3 converges to zero after reaching a saturation point on the hysteresis for the tag and the security tag 3 is deactivated. Herein, the state where the security tag 3 is deactivated is referred to as a state where the security is released.
When payment is completed, commodity 1 with the security tag 3 whose security has been released is handed over to the customer, and then the customer goes out of the store through the exit. The alarm unit located at the exit does not issue any alarm because it can not detect the magnetic field of the security tag 3. Namely, this customer is considered as an ordinary customer who has paid for the commodity 1.
In order to explain an example of a case where a commodity 1 is shoplifted, when a shoplifter having the commodity 1 with the security tag 3 which is not deactivated tries to pass through the exit along with the commodity, the alarm unit detects the magnetic field of the security tag 3. Herein, a state where the security tag 3 is not deactivated is referred to as a state where the security is not released. When the alarm unit detects the magnetic field of the security tag 3 it considers that a shoplifter is about to go out of the store and gives an alarm.
In the conventional type of POS system, the security is released by deactivating the security tag 3 with the deactivating section 10, but the operator has no way of understanding whether the security is perfectly released or not because it is impossible to visually check the deactivated state of the security tag 3. Under such circumstances, in the conventional type of POS system, if there is a little more distance between the deactivating section 10 and the security tag 3 when the security tag 3 is passed over deactivating section 10, the AC magnetic field generated by the deactivating section 10 cannot deactivate the magnetic field of the security tag 3.
In such a case the security tag 3 is still activated, commodity 1 with the security tag 3 whose security has not been released is handed over to the ordinary customer who has paid for it. When this customer is about to pass through the exit of the store, the alarm unit located at the exit detects the magnetic field of the security tag 3, the customer is regarded as a shoplifter despite the fact that the customer has paid for it, and an alarm is given which makes the ordinary customer feel displeased.
Accordingly, in the conventional type of POS system, when the case described above occurs, the commodity 1 and the security cannot be managed for a while and the quality of commodity management as well as of security management is degraded.
Also, when the case as described above happens, the ordinary customer regarded as a shoplifter has to go all the way back to the cash counter and tell that payment has been properly made to the operator, and then hand over the commodity 1 again to the operator to have him (her) execute the processing for deactivating the security tag 3 with the deactivating section 10.
However, when the operation for deactivation is performed a second time, the commodity 1 is also passed near the reader 5 and it may happen that the barcode 2 having already been read is read again by the reading section 5. Accordingly, in the conventional type of POS system, the reading section 5 reads the same barcode twice, which lowers the efficiency of the system.
It is an object of the present invention to provide, for the purpose of solving the problems under the circumstances as described above, a commodity information management system which can surely release the security, improve the quality of commodity management as well as security management, and enhance system efficiency.
In accordance with the invention, at a cash counter, a commodity with a barcode and a tag attached thereto is moved from the upstream side to the downstream side along a path defined by readerxe2x86x92deactivatorxe2x86x92detector. During this movement, when the commodity passes near the reader the barcode is read by the reader, further when the commodity passes near the deactivator the tag is deactivated by the deactivator. In other words, the tag is deactivated by the deactivator and the security is released.
Further, when the commodity is positioned near the detector, the detector detects the magnetic field of the tag. The result of detection includes two types: a result that the tag is completely deactivated and a result that the tag is still activated.
Herein, the situation that the tag is still activated may occur under the circumstances that the distance between the tag and the deactivator is too great to deactivate the tag completely by the deactivator, or under the circumstances that the detector may detect an external magnetic field from some other source.
A notifying unit notifies the result of detection by the detector to an operator. Thus, the operator recognizes, when the result of detection is that the tag has completely been deactivated, that the security has been released, and ends the accounting of the commodity.
On the other hand, when the result of detection result is that the tag is still activated, the operator moves the commodity from the deactivator to the detector once again. With this operation, the tag is completely deactivated by the deactivator and the detector detects that the tag is deactivated, and then the operator ends the accounting of the commodity.
When the detector detects an external magnetism although the tag has been deactivated, the fact that tag has been completely deactivated is accurately detected by the detector, so that the operator ends the accounting of the commodity.
As described above, with the invention, a detector for detecting magnetism of a tag is provided therein, and further a notifying unit for notifying an operator of the result of detection by the detector is provided therein, so that release of the security can surely be carried out, which allows the quality of commodity management as well as of security management to be improved.
In accordance with the invention, when magnetism of a tag is detected by a detector, a notifying unit lights up, when a detection result is that the tag is not deactivated, for example, a light-emitting diode or the like. With this feature, an operator is notified of the result of detection by the detector using light.
Then, the operator visually recognizes the result of detection from the lit-up state, and either ends the accounting or moves the commodity from the deactivator to the detector once again according to this detection result.
As described above, with the present invention, the operator is notified of the result of detection using light as a medium by a notifying unit, so that, even if the operator""s concentration has been lowered, attention to the result can be called by the light, which allows misoperation to be prevented. Therefore, the security release can surely be carried out.
In accordance with the invention, when a detector detects the magnetism of a tag, a notifying unit outputs a continuous sound from a speaker or the like. Thus, the operator is notified of the result of detection by the detector using sound.
When, the operator hears the result of detection from the sound, either ends the accounting or moves the commodity from the deactivator to the detector once again base on this result of detection.
As described above, with the present invention, an operator is notified of the result of detection using sound as a medium by a notifying unit, so that, even if the operator is looking aside, attention to the result can be called by the sound, which allows misoperation to be prevented. Therefore, the security release can further surely be carried out.
In accordance with the present invention, when the tag of a commodity is positioned near a detector at the time of clearing, magnetism of the tag is detected by the detector. Then the result of detection by the detector is notified to the operator by a notifying unit, and is also reported to a host terminal by a reporting unit.
With this feature, the host terminal can also ascertain whether the tag is completely deactivated or not, in other words, whether the security is released or not, so that when the security is not released, an operator of the host terminal can send a notice to the operator who is carrying out the clearing to the effect that checking deactivation of the tag should be retried.
Namely, the operator who is carrying out the clearing is notified of the result by the notifying unit as well as by the operator of the host terminal, so that the operator will never fail to check the security release.
As described above, with the invention, the security release can most surely be carried out, which allows the quality of commodity management as well as of security management to be significantly improved.
In accordance with the invention, when the tag of a commodity is positioned near a detector at the time of clearing, the magnetic field of the tag is detected by the detector, and the result of detection is notified to an operator by a notifying unit, and is also outputted as electronic document data such as character data or numerical data to a host terminal by a reporting unit.
With this feature, the host terminal recognizes, according to the electronic document data, the result of detection and also stores the electronic document data into a database.
As described above, with the present invention, a result of detection is outputted to the host terminal as electronic document data, so that it is easier to construct a database of results of detection in the host terminal, which allows the quality of security management to be further improved according to this database.
In accordance with the present invention, at a cash counter, a commodity with a barcode and a tag attached thereto is moved from the upstream side to the downstream side along a path defined by readerxe2x86x92deactivatorxe2x86x92detector. During this movement, when the commodity passes near the reader the barcode is read by the reader, further when the commodity passes near the deactivator the tag is deactivated by the deactivator. In the final stage, when the commodity passes near the detector the magnetic field of the tag is detected by the detector.
With this feature, a determining unit determines whether or not the tag is deactivated, in other words, whether or not the security is released. Herein, when it is determined that the security is not released (the tag is not deactivated), a control unit first makes a report to the effect that the security is not released to a host terminal.
Then, the host terminal can ascertain that the security is not released, so that an operator of the host terminal sends a notice to the operator who is carrying out the clearing to the effect that checking deactivation of the tag should be repeated.
In addition, the control unit reports to the host terminal and also sends a notice to the effect that a retry of checking the magnetic field of the tag is requested to the operator. The operator once again brings the commodity near the detector, and checks that the security is released according to the second notice from the control unit. Then, the operator ends the clearing of the commodity.
As described above, with the invention, when the security of a tag is not released, a notice to that effect is sent to a host terminal and also a notice to the effect that checking of deactivation of the tag should be retried is sent directly to the operator, so that the security release can more surely be carried out.
In accordance with the invention, when the security of a tag is not released, the control unit enables only the function of the detector during the period of time since the request for a retry of checking deactivation thereof is notified to the operator until the determining unit determines that the tag is deactivated.
Therefore, even if the operator brings the commodity near the reader and the detector, the barcode is not possibly read again by the reader and only the magnetic field of the tag is detected again by the detector.
As described above, with the present invention, only the function of the detector is enabled, so that a wasteful operation of reading of the barcode twice during the operation of retry can be omitted, which allows the system efficiency to be enhanced.
In accordance with the present invention, when a barcode is read by a barcode reader, a deactivating section-drive signal is outputted from an output unit, and a tag is deactivated through driving of the deactivating section. Then, the deactivating section is driven, and when magnetism of the tag is detected by the magnetic detector, a notice is sent to an operator by a notifying unit.
As described above, with the present invention, when the magnetic field of the tag is still detected after the deactivating section is driven, namely when the security of the tag is not released, a notice to that effect is sent to the operator by a notifying unit, so that the notifying unit can inform the operator to release the security with the tag, which allows the security release to surely be carried out.
Other objects and features of this invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.